Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings reportedly has hired attorneys to handle a restructuring of its huge debt, a consequence of its record buyout in 2007 and low power prices in recent years.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that EFH hired the Kirkland & Ellis law firm to help restructure its debt load. Kirkland & Ellis' website lists restructurings as one of four core practices for the firm.The Journal also said Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of EFH's owners, hired Blackstone Group. KKR and Fort Worth-based TPG led an investment group that bought the former TXU Energy for about $44 billion.According to a compilation by Bloomberg News, EFH now has $47.2 billion in total debt.Allan Koenig, a spokesman for EFH, said the company doesn't comment on the identities of its specific advisers. Officials of Blackstone, KKR and Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis, all declined to comment.EFH has struggled to be profitable ever since the buyout, as the shale revolution created a glut of natural gas, pushing U.S. prices the lowest since 1999. It has posted seven consecutive quarterly losses and had $37.4 billion in long-term borrowing as of Sept. 30.EFH's 2012 net loss widened to $2.17 billion from $1.91 billion the previous year as revenue fell, the company said in a Jan. 22 filing of preliminary results with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 2012 loss doesn't include noncash charges that may result from impairment to goodwill or intangible assets, the company said.EFH is due to publish fourth-quarter results on Feb. 15The company operates Luminant Generation, electricity retailer TXU Energy and Oncor Electric Delivery, the regulated utility that operates the power wires and poles in most of North Texas. EFH has sought to protect the profitable part of its company from a potential restructuring at its unregulated unit by paying off intercompany loans and extending and amending debt maturities amid a slump in electricity prices.Creditors agreed to exchange $1.37 billion of EFH bonds and amend rules governing its securities to shift liabilities, the company said on Jan. 9. While that news was interpreted as a sign that the company was going to try to work out its debt without filing for bankruptcy, Friday's news was seen as the opposite.The company's 10.25 percent senior bonds due in November 2015 have fallen 3.2 cents since Feb. 1 to 24.8 cents on the dollar.Staff writer Jim Fuquay contributed to this report.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
